Prime Minister Hun Sen Says He Will Not Bar Facebook Not to Affect the Public
A man is using Tik Tok. Photo provided.
- By Meng Seavmey
- July 1, 2023 7:55 PM
PHNOM PENH — Prime Minister Hun Sen said on June 30 that Facebook will not be blocked in Cambodia as he had previously announced. But the representatives from the Meta Platforms company that owns Facebook have been expelled from the country and their connections with the government severed, he said.
Through Telegram, Prime Minister Hun Sen officially announced that Facebook would not be banned from the country, although the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications had decided to expel Meta representatives from Cambodia.
The ministry said on June 30 that the decision was made due to having tracked abnormal activities of app users, including creating fake accounts, using and collecting private data, spreading fake news, lacking accountability and transparency, and interfering in the country's political affairs.
During his meeting with factory workers in Pursat province’s Krakor district, Hun Sen said that switching from Facebook to Tik Tok and Telegram had given him an indirect urge of “shutting down Facebook in Cambodia.”
The urge was due to this hypothetical speech that was meant to be in response to his opposition party only.
“Last night, I deactivated my Facebook page…and the opposition group living abroad are enjoying this,” Hun Sen said. “You must know that: If I ever shut down Facebook in Cambodia, you’d be over. But I want to tell you that it is not the means that Hun Sen would use.
“Although I deleted my Facebook page, I still have connection with the citizens through Telegram,” he added.
The prime minister turned to using Telegram, through which he has more than 800,000 followers, and Tik Tok where he so far has more than 468,000 followers. “From now on, any Facebook account bearing the name ‘Hun Sen’ is all fake,” he said on June 29 on Telegram.
The announcement came after the Oversight Board—an independent body reviewing and deciding on the content on Facebook or Instagram— on June 29 had stated earlier on the same day that the board recommended an immediate suspension of the official Facebook page and Instagram account of Prime Minister Hun Sen for six months.
Following the prime minister, some people supported the idea of shutting down Facebook in the country. Tycoon Leng Navatra, a residential property developer, announced that he would delete his Facebook page with 2.2 million followers, and asked to be followed on Tik Tok and Telegram instead. The idea, however, received a big wave of criticism from Facebook users.
Since then, some Facebook users have been uploading their own QR Code to their accounts on other social media platforms, including Telegram and Tik Tok, which are already popular in the country.
Still, numerous people have disagreed with the idea because banning Facebook in Cambodia would significantly affect economic activities as many companies and business owners depend on the online platform to function.
By June 2023, there were more than 13.77 million Facebook users in Cambodia, according to a report of the NapoleonCat website, which analyzes social media performance platform based on data. The number reflects 78.4 percent of the country’s total population, the report stated.
